A/N: Hey y'all! So I know it's taken me a while to update this story, but I'm also working on a new fic that I'm super excited about! So, if you're a Star Wars fan, check out the first two chapters of my newest fic, The Edge.
Alpha Male
Mount Justice
September 23, 06:34 EDT
I was running on fumes. After Red Tornado's apparent betrayal, sleep was the least of my concerns. We sat in silence at a table that the League had set up for us in the mission room while Kaldur spoke with Batman. Oliver was attempting to ease the tension by offering us snacks.
"Thanks, but no thanks." Wally shoved a bowl of pretzels back toward Ollie.
"Yeah, what we want are answers." Robin continued, "About Red Tornado and his siblings."
"Exactly!" Oliver removed the snacks from the table, but as he turned to walk away, Wally stopped him, "Leave the bowl."
GA smiled softly and handed the snack to the speedster, who immediately began shoving pretzels in his mouth. A small smirk graced my lips as I glanced over at my boyfriend, still conversing with the Dark Knight.
"YOU KNEW!?" Connor shouted suddenly, pinning Kaldur to the Cave wall, "That android and his maniac family nearly killed M'gann!"
M'gann and I immediately rushed over, the Martian to try and calm her boyfriend, me to pry him off of Kaldur.
"Connor, what are you doing?" M'gann asked in shock. I strode quietly up to the clone and found a pressure point on his neck, forcing him to release Kaldur and glare at me.
"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!" I froze. What? No, no that was impossible. He wouldn't keep that from us... he wouldn't keep that from me...
But he did; it was written all over his face.
"You knew?" Robin asked angrily.
"You didn't tell us?" I asked with equal ferocity. Kaldur hadn't expected us to find out about a mole, that much was clear.
"I only sought to protect the Team from-" Kaldur tried to explain, but was cut off by Artemis.
"From what? Knowledge that could've saved our lives?"
"You almost died!" Connor pointed out to M'gann.
"Enough." Batman silenced us all immediately. We turned to face him, a scowl now present on my face, my arms crossed over my chest. Flanking the Dark Knight was Black Canary, Green Arrow, and to my surprise, Captain Marvel.
"With Red Tornado... missing, the Team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift."
Marvel took a step closer to us with a friendly smile, "I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys."
Next to me, I could hear Connor growling to Kaldur.
"After I dismantle Red Tornado, you and I are-"
"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League. That makes him a League responsibility. You will leave him to us." Batman ordered sternly. For a moment, Connor hesitated, but then begrudgingly backed off. Batman continued, "I have another assignment for this team."
Several newspaper articles, most of them from Gotham, showed the city's mayor, Hamilton Hill, covered in bandages and bruises. A large headline from the Gotham Truth Rag read-
"Gotham Mayor Attacked by Guerilla Gorilla?" Wally read aloud, clearly unimpressed.
"Batman, please!" Robin complained, "Tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase."
"I never joke about the mission." Batman seethed, causing his protégé to back down, "I've checked the sources. I've studied the patterns. Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents. Aqualad, you and your team will depart for India and check this out."
We all nodded and began to make our way to the hangar. Behind me, I could hear Wally scoff quietly, "Hmph, your team."
I veered to change quickly before boarding the Bioship; it would be a long flight to India, I could tape my hands on the way there. Right now, that seemed to be the better option compared to talking with-
"Kara." Dammit. I turned around, anger clear on my face, to see Kaldur standing a few feet away from me. I continued placing the final few pieces of my body armor on while I spoke, my cowl hanging around my neck.
"What?" I snapped.
"I know you're upset with me. But please, you need to understand-" He took a few steps forward and tried to take my hand in his, but I pulled away. Now that I was fully dressed, I holstered the Glock 21 that I hadn't used since the Ivo encounter (hey, there's something scary stuff in India, you never know) and grabbed my roll of athletic tape, before slipping past him.
"I understand perfectly. And if you can't trust us... if you can't trust me... then what's the point of trying?" As I headed for the door, a pair of hands grabbed my hips and spun me around. I tried to turn back around, but his grip on me only tightened. A pair of lips collided with mine before I had the chance to argue. I wanted so badly to simply stand there, give no response to his gesture. But I couldn't. Unlike our kisses in the past, this one was heated, passionate and, to my chagrin, brief.
"Don't ever believe that I don't trust you, Kara." He whispered against my lips, sending a chill up my spine.
"Then why?" I asked in a similar whisper, "Why didn't you tell me? You didn't think I was the mole, did you?"
"No. I never believed it to be you." He replied, slinking one arm around my waist, cupping my cheek with his other, "But I couldn't investigate the matter with the entire team knowing."
It made sense. Telling everyone that there was a mole would make everyone turn on each other, no one would be able to be trusted. I leaned up, pressing a quick kiss to his lips, before a grin spread on my face.
"I understand. And I'm sorry for how I acted."
"Don't be. I should have told you." He admitted, leading me toward the hangar and linking our hands.
"Who tipped you off?" I asked, my curiosity now peaked. He sighed and squeezed my hand gently.
"Sportsmaster. When Red Arrow and I were in Taipei." My jaw dropped. Sportsmaster? Again?
"You can't be serious. Does Roy know?" I asked quietly as we neared the Bioship. Our hands fell away from each other when we caught sight of Robin and Wally talking to Captain Marvel.
"Yes. He does." Kaldur replied. With that, I separated from him, following Captain Marvel onto the Bioship.
"Are you going with us, Cap?" I asked with a grin.
"Sure am. It'll be fun!" Marvel answered with a nod. I gave him an acknowledging nod, before sitting down next to Artemis. My smile faded quickly when I felt the tension hanging above us. Something told me that this mission would be anything but fun.
Northern India
September 23, 21:36 IST
When we arrived, the first thing that happened was a brief scouting of the surrounding area. Once Rob and Artemis gave the all clear, the rest of us joined them, Kaldur, Artemis, M'gann and Wally all switching to stealth mode.
"We need to review mission parameters." Kaldur began to instruct us. But he was cut off by Wally.
"Parameters? We don't need no stinkin' parameters."
"It's recon. We know what to do." Robin continued. The two of them then turned to leave.
"Kid, Robin." Kaldur tried to call them back, but they turned on him.
"We started this Team because the League was keeping secrets from us." The Boy Wonder snapped. I cringed a bit, thinking of how right he was.
"Or did you forget, like you forgot to tell us about the mole?" Wally sneered. The two of them then turned and disappeared into the jungle without waiting for a response. A few moments of silence followed before Connor took M'gann's arm.
"Come on. I'll protect you."
M'gann glared up at the Kryptonian, most likely scolding him telepathically, judging by the surprised look on his face.
"I... just want to protect you." He sputtered. M'gann pulled her arm away, her glare still strong.
"Like how Aqualad protected us?" Artemis shot at the clone, "I don't think your patronizing is good for our health. You coming, Wildcat?"
The archer and the Martian were looking at me now. I hesitated for a moment, but decided that it might be better to go with the girls. I nodded and followed them as they headed toward a nearby river.
When enough distance had been put between the three of us and the others, we stopped walking to talk. I leaned up against a tree, my arms crossed over my chest, watching the river roll on in front of me.
"So..." Artemis started, "You and Kaldur?"
My heart stopped. Artemis was staring right at me, a smirk on her face. Thank God my cowl was on, otherwise my face would have given me away.
"What do you mean?" I recovered quickly, trying to play off her accusation.
"Don't play dumb, Kara. I've seen the two of you sneaking off for weeks. So fess up."
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose and squeezing my eyes shut. Artemis wasn't going to back down, and I was not in the mood to strike up an argument with a girl who could skewer me faster than I could pin her down.
"Alright. Fine. We've been seeing each other since the Bialya mission. It just sort of... happened, I guess. I'm happy that it did, though. I know you guys are mad at him and I totally get it. But-"
"You don't need to explain yourself, Kara." M'gann interrupted, a small smile gracing her lips. "We understand."
Artemis was smiling too, softer than her usual lopsided smirk. I sighed again, this time a sigh of relief.
"Just don't tell anyone else. Canary would have my head if she found out I was seeing Kaldur without her knowing." I said as the three of us began to walk along the river's edge again.
"Your secret's safe with us." M'gann replied, setting a hand on my shoulder as we walked.
"Although, you might wanna work on your sneaking around. If I've noticed, the Bird Boy's probably noticed too." Artemis pointed out.
"Great. Just what I need. A 13-year old who can't keep his mouth shut." I groaned, making the others laugh. As we continued talking, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something rise out of the water. But just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished beneath the surface. I shrugged it off as a water snake coming up for air or something. Big mistake.
Two seconds later, a pair of massive crocodiles sprang from the water. One of them began chasing after M'gann and I while the other grabbed Artemis by her quiver. The archer was dragged underwater and I could see the croc starting to barrel roll.
"M'gann! Help Artemis! I'll take care of this guy!" I barked. The Martian nodded before disappearing into the river. I hoisted myself up a nearby tree to get a better angle on the beast. It was three times the size of a normal crocodile and I could see some similarities between the croc and the Mammoth creature we fought on Santa Prisca. Kobra Venom. Of course. But there was something else. Something was clasped around the croc's neck and it looked surprisingly familiar. It was an inhibitor collar, similar to the one's that M'gann and Connor wore when they went undercover in Belle Reve.
Carefully, I drew my Glock and aimed for the collar. A loud bang rang out through the jungle as a bullet struck the collar; pieces fell to the ground and the croc seemed to snap out of some sort of trance before slipping back into the river and swimming away. A loud rush of water and a bit of hacking came from a bit further down the river, where Artemis and M'gann had been fighting their croc.
"You guys okay?" I shouted while I holstered the pistol.
"Yeah. But nearly drowning two nights in a row isn't as fun as you would think." Artemis shouted back. A lopsided grin tugged at the corner of my mouth as I jogged over to them and began to help the archer up the bank. M'gann floated down next to us, Artemis' quiver and bow in her hands. The blonde thanked her and slung the quiver onto her back.
"M'gann, send a message to Kaldur. Tell him about the crocodiles and tell him that they were enhanced with Kobra Venom."
M'gann nodded, bringing a hand to her temple, her eyes glowing faint green. After a moment, M'gann's voice entered my head.
"Link established."
Artemis glanced over at me briefly, as though she were asking permission to still be mad at Kaldur. I gave her a nod and a scowl immediately formed on her face.
"Should you really still be giving us orders?" She looked over at M'gann, "And should you really be following them?"
"Listen, please." Kaldur practically begged for the others to listen.
"Oh, good. Aqualad's voice in my head." Kid Flash chimed in sarcastically, "I've so missed that."
"Hey, Kaldur!" Robin practically spat his name, if that was even possible in a telepathic conversation, "KF and I were attacked by giant vultures 'Course since we're moles you probably think we attacked ourselves."
"If he did, he wouldn't tell you." Artemis snorted.
"Superboy, are you online or just pouting?" M'gann asked her boyfriend.
"Busy. Call back later." Can't say I'm surprised by that response, he was probably letting off steam against a few Kobra critters.
"What gets me is how nonchalant he is about not telling us." Wally continued to fan the flames.
"He should be chalant. Way chalant. Extremely chalant!"
"How can we be a team if he doesn't trust us with his secrets?" Artemis pointed out.
"Or if Connor doesn't trust us to take care of ourselves?" M'gann added.
"Did he really think that you or I could've been the mole?"
"We've known each other for years!"
"Trust is a two way street and you know they'd hate it if we kept secrets from them."
"Not that we'd do that."
"Never."
"Enough." Kaldur commanded, silencing everyone else, "Captain Marvel has been captured. And we need to act as a team to save him."
"Under your leadership? I don't think-" Wally tried to argue, but Kaldur cut him off.
"This is not up for debate. You all chose me to lead. When the mission is over, if you wish to select a new leader, I will happily step down. But until that time, I am in command here."
A few moments of silence passed before I finally spoke up, "We'll meet you at your coordinates."
After a couple hours of searching, we had located a compound. We hid in the brush surrounding the building, waiting in physical silence.
"I'll fly over, survey the area." M'gann suggested telepathically.
"Negatory. There's a force field surrounding the building like a dome. Pylons are insulated but one good shock could cause a momentary gap." Wally observed, using the infrared vision on his goggles.
"I see a target." Artemis already her sights set on a fuse box. I flexed my hands and crouched lower, ready to move at a moment's notice.
"Everyone get ready. We only have one shot at this."
Kaldur rushed forward, until he reached the edge of the force field. His tattoos lit up as he placed his hands up to the field. A few bolts of lightning erupted around the field while Wally watched for an opening.
"Now!" There was a THWANG! from an arrow being loosed and within the next moment, the field was down. We all stepped out from the brush and began to jog toward the compound. I met Kaldur first at the main doors.
"Nicely done, Leader." I said quietly, setting a hand on Kaldur's shoulder. He opened his mouth to reply, but with the others falling in behind us, he decided not to say anything.
"We'll talk later." I suggested as a screech cut through the air above us. We looked up to see a macaque wearing an inhibitor collar, alerting his entire group of our presence. They leapt off a ledge and began to charge us.
"Remove their collars!" Kaldur yelled as he tore an inhibitor collar of the neck of one of the macaques.
"Easy when he says it!" Rob muttered next to me, a macaque on top of him. I grabbed the collar from behind and yanked it off for the Boy Wonder.
"Thanks, Cat."
"You owe me one, Rob." I replied, moving to take the collars off the remaining macaques. As we were finishing off the monkeys, a roar came from the shadows surrounding us followed by a fit of growling. I turned to face the source, which was in fact, a gorilla with a machine gun. It raised its large hand and grabbed something out of the air, which I soon realized was M'gann in camouflage mode, and slammed her into the ground. The ape aimed its machine gun at the Martian, but Wally heroically stepped in.
"Get your hands off her, you darn, dirty ape!" He shouted as he sped toward the gorilla, who batted him away like an annoying fly. The rest of us managed to duck into the compound, which was actually more of a laboratory. Up ahead, I saw an Indian tiger trapped under a set of pylons, Captain Marvel restrained by an inhibitor collar, and his captor who was no longer a secret and was now joined by our ape friend.
"It's the Brain!" Wally declared, obviously surprised.
"Ugh, I see it's a brain." Artemis sassed the speedster.
"Not a brain, the Brain!"
"In the flesh, so to speak. Mallah." The gorilla pulled out a remote, pressed a button and a second set of pylons surrounded us. They turned on and we all collapsed, unable to move.
"Miss Martian, Superboy, now!" Kaldur instructed over our still active telepathic link. M'gann mentally called the remote in Mallah's hand to her, while Connor burst through a nearby wall, a large, Kobra-enhanced white wolf next to him. M'gann shut off the pylons and we went to work taking down Mallah.
I saw Kaldur remove Captain Marvel's collar, and he in turn removed a collar from the tiger. With all of us now ganging up on Mallah and the Brain it was obvious who had the upper hand. Mallah roared in frustration, while Connor cracked his knuckles.
"Try it. I hate monkeys."
"No, Mallah." The Brain stopped his companion from attacking, "This will not be our Waterloo. Au revior, mes amis."
The Brain suddenly turned himself into this kinda doomsday device looking thing. And it looked like it was going to go off.
"Get down! Everyone down!" Wally yelled. We all ducked down, our arms shielding our faces as the lights in the lab went out. But the normal, gigantic, super-destructive blast that usually comes with a doomsday device never came. Instead, the lights came back on.
"So... that weapon was a light switch?" I asked, looking around for the Brain, finding that both he and Mallah had vanished.
It seemed that the tension between the Team had vanished by the time we returned to the Bioship. Everyone was conversing with each other as though our little spat prior to our arrival in India had never happened. As Cap, Kaldur, Robin and I watched the Indian tiger, whom Marvel affectionately named Mr. Tawny disappear into the jungle, I noticed that the white wolf that helped us was sticking around, clearly bonded with Connor.
Kaldur and I moved to board the Bioship, but we stopped when Rob blocked our path.
"Look, I've gotta know. Why did you keep the mole intel a secret?"
Kaldur looked over to me and I gave him a small nod.
"The source of the tip was Sportsmaster."
"What?! You can't trust him!" Artemis said, slightly defensive.
"I do not. It seemed possible, even likely, that he was attempting to divide the Team with false information."
"And given how this mission went, he nearly succeeded." Robin sighed.
"But you couldn't rule out the possibility that he was telling the truth." I added.
Kaldur nodded, "I didn't want to alert a possible traitor."
"I hate to say it, but it does make sense." Robin said resigned.
"I am still prepared to step down."
"All in favor of keeping Aqualad as our leader?" Everyone raised their hand as soon as Wally proposed the motion.
"Guess it's unanimous." Captain Marvel strode over to Kaldur and shook his hand before turning and preparing to take off, "See you tomorrow."
"Not coming back with us, Cap?" I asked as everyone else boarded the Bioship.
"Sorry, Wildcat, but I gotta fly!" Before I could respond, he took off, leaving Kaldur and I alone. He turned to join the others, but before he could reach the ship, I grabbed his shoulder and turned him around to face me.
"Kara-" I cut him off with a quick kiss. When we broke apart, I pressed my forehead to his.
"We can talk later, when we're alone. I just wanted you to know that I'm proud of you, Kaldur."